As fall settles in, local bookstores near Occidental College reflect seasonal changes in the community’s relationship with books.
Horror and literary winters at the North Figueroa Bookshop
North Figueroa Bookshop is catering to an uptick in interest in horror this Halloween, shop manager Amadeus Fuzz said. According to Fuzz, their publisher Unnamed Press is embracing contemporary works, from pregnancy body horror to sorority slashers. Fuzz said that among these titles stands “A Certain Hunger” by Chelsea G. Summers.
“It’s about a food writer who’s a cannibal,” Fuzz said. “She seduces people to bring home to eat.”
Fuzz said that, in search of a winter experience amidst California’s ever-warming temperatures, he has turned to more melancholic novels.
“I like reading really sad, cozy stuff in the winter,” he said. “Our summers are stretching, and a book can make me feel much colder than the actual weather.”
Fuzz said his pick is “Under The Sign of The Labyrinth” by Christina Tudor-Sideri. According to Fuzz, the book follows a woman living in a Romanian forest that previously housed a mental hospital — and she can see the ghosts of the patients. Fuzz said he thinks the writer connects the physical and spiritual well by exploring her own psyche and consciousness.
“When we’re hurt, it impedes our thought process,” he said. “[The author] talks about how throbbing is something mental. You don’t need to touch a wound to feel it throbbing in pain. Our mind is constantly distracted by this wound.”
The election season at Read Books
Jeremy Kaplan, who co-owns Read Books on Eagle Rock Blvd. with his partner Debbie Kaplan, said people had gravitated towards heavier reading, like dystopian novels, after the 2016 election.
“Everyone was so afraid of what was going to happen after Trump became president, so we started getting more people who wanted to read ‘1984’, for example,” Jeremy Kaplan said. “I pushed them towards ‘Brave New World,’ because I thought it was more appropriate.”
Debbie Kaplan said she noticed distinct shifts in reading preferences during this election season.
“Something I have noticed having to do with this season in particular is lately people have said, ‘I want light reading because the election [has] me so stressed out,’” Debbie Kaplan said. “I’ve recommended Agatha Christie a couple of times.”
Jeremy Kaplan said that because customers are overwhelmed, they typically don’t offer political selections during voting season.
“Their heads are exploding,” Jeremy Kaplan said. “They tend to come in more and say, ‘Give me something where I don’t have to think.’”
Respite and community at The Pop-Hop Books & Print
In a gift-giving season at The Pop-Hop co-op, customers will find themselves in an environment especially suitable for browsing, according to co-owner Adriana Yogovich.
“It’s kind of part of our magic. We’re not like a typical bookstore where you just go in like, ‘Do you have this book?’” Yogovich said. “Probably not, but we might have something better, or more special.”
Yogovich said this month, Pop-Hop has handmade curios that are spoopy — silly versions of spooky subject matter — as well as photobooks from local photographers and a whole shelf of local poetry.
“I like a spooky theme, or sort of dark gothic, for poetry,” Yogovich said.
Noah Smith, an illustrator and regular at Pop-Hop, said that his reading choices flow with the calendar year and the demands of his life.
“Usually in the beginning of the year, I’m thinking about how I want to grow and pivot, change, evolve. So, I read more self-help and uplifting life-lesson-type content,” Smith said. “Then I get a little bit more romantic, maybe around spring and summer, so I’ll read my fiction around those times.”
In the fall, when his illustrations are high in demand, Smith said he either seeks calming content or takes a break from reading altogether.
“I don’t read that many [books] right now because October, August and September are my busiest months,” Smith said. “That’s when audiobooks come in handy.”
Co-owner Kenzo Martinez said that beyond providing books for customers, Pop-Hop is a space for artists to collaborate through selling or swapping zines.
“People find their community that way,” Martinez said. “One of the really beautiful things about our store is people keep making connections to each other here.”
Contact Val Nguyen at vnguyen4@oxy.edu and Yanori Ferguson at yferguson@oxy.edu
